Conjugated dibenzosilole polymers are an important class of materials that can conduct charge and exhibit photoluminescence with high quantum efficiency. In addition to their electroluminescent properties, dibenzosilole polymers are resistant to oxidative degradation and aggregation, even after exposure to high temperature conditions. This combination of favorable physical, chemical and electro-optical properties makes dibenzosilole polymers particularly useful in the fabrication of electronic and photovoltaic devices.
The manufacture of optoelectronic devices is typically conducted in organic solvents (e.g., aromatic hydrocarbons). To improve the solubility in solvents such as xylene, hydrophobic solubilizing groups are typically attached to dibenzosilole polymers. The absence of viable synthetic approaches for preparing water-soluble dibenzosilole derivatives, however, has precluded the use of these materials in applications requiring solubility in aqueous systems. Thus, there exists a need for bright, thermally and optically stable, conjugated polymers that are soluble in aqueous media and exhibit favorable optical properties (e.g., high extinction coefficient and quantum yield), even under intense irradiation.